George Offor

George Offor (1787– 7 August 1864) was an English book-collector who accumulated a massive personal library.^[1]

Offor entered business as a bookseller at Tower Hill, London. He studied Hebrew, Greek and Latin and became an expert in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature and theological writings.^[2]

Offor died at his home, Grove House, Grove Street, South Hackney, London, on 4 August 1864, and was buried in Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington.^[3]

Works

John Bunyan

He had compiled the complete works of John Bunyan. However some of them were destroyed in a fire.^[4]

He spent his days reading, researching, recording, comparing, and editing the works of Bunyan. Offor's diligent labour concluded in 1854 with the printing of the three-volume, 2,800 page Works of John Bunyan. Now over a century and a half old, Offor's final product remains the most popular definitive collection of Bunyan in print.

Auction

After his death, his huge collection of books was to be auctioned on 27 June 1865, for 11 days by Sotheby's.^[4][5] However, on 29 June, a fire consumed nearly all the items that were for sale.^[6]

Bibliography

• George Offor (1816). A Catalogue of New and Second-Hand Books.
• George Offor (1822). Salvation, received by Faith, communicating Peace. The substance of a Sermon, occasioned by the death of Elizabeth Offor, With a memoir of her life. J. Gladding.
• William Tyndale (1836). George Offor (ed.). The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. S. Bagster.
• Roger Williams (1848). The Bloudy Tenet of Persecution. Hanserd Knollys Society.
• Increase Mather (1856). George Offor (ed.). Remarkable Providences illustrative of the earlier days of American colonisation. J.R. Smith.
• John Bunyan (1850). George Offor (ed.). The Works of John Bunyan: With an introduction to each treatise, notes, and a sketch of his life, times, and contemporaries. Vol. 1. Blackie and son.
• John Bunyan (1862). George Offor (ed.). The Whole Works of John Bunyan. Vol. 2. Blackie.
• John Bunyan (1853). George Offor (ed.). The Works of John Bunyan: Allegorical, figurative, and symbolical. Vol. 3. Blackie and son.